“Aspire to great things,” like Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis, because fragility is not “a taboo” and “the fullness of our existence does not depend on what we store up or what we possess.” Pope Leo XIV addressed over a million young people gathered at Tor Vergata for the closing ceremony of the Jubilee of Young People. Demonstrating that he understands their struggles, he began by acknowledging the strong desire for infinity in their hearts that yearns to be fulfilled. He likened the journey of the young people he met in recent days to that of the disciples of Emmaus and described hope as a step stool that children use to peer through the window of their encounter with God. “It’s beautiful, especially at a young age,” he said, encouraging them to “open wide your hearts, allow him to enter, and set out on this adventure with him towards eternity, learning to say ‘no’ to ‘cheap imitations’ of hope.” As Pope Francis said during World Youth Day in Lisbon, “We should not be lethargic, but alive!” We are “not made for a life where everything is taken for granted and static, but for an existence that is constantly renewed through the gift of self in love,” Prevost said echoing his words.
“An outpouring of grace for the Church and for the whole world!”:
the Pope said referring to the Jubilee of Young People during the Angelus prayer, entrusting the two recently deceased pilgrims to the Lord and recalling the young people of Gaza and Ukraine, along with all young people suffering “in every land bloodied by war.”
“After this Jubilee, the pilgrimage of hope of young people continues and will take us to Asia!”,
he said announcing the date of the next World Youth Day in Seoul, from August 3 to 8, 2027, whose theme will be: “Take courage! I have overcome the world!”. Amid the cheers of the huge crowd of young people chanting his name, Leo XIV made an unexpected return to the podium to greet them once again with an impromptu appeal:
“I ask you also to bring greetings to the many young people who could not be here with us, in so many countries where it was impossible to leave. Bring this joy, this enthusiasm to the whole world. You are salt of the earth and the light of the world! Take this greeting to all of your friends, to all of the young people who need a message of hope. Thank you to all of you! And have a safe trip home!”
Fragility “is not a taboo”, it is “part of the marvel of creation”,
were the opening lines of the Pope’s homily, in which he reflected on the encounter with the risen Christ who “transforms our lives and enlightens our affections, desires and thoughts.” “We are made for this”, the Pope said recalling the image of flowers in a field: “We are not made for a life where everything is taken for granted and static, but for an existence that is constantly renewed through gift of self in love.”
“We continually aspire to something “more” that no created reality can give us”, the portrayal of young people: “we feel a deep and burning thirst that no drink in this world can satisfy.” “Knowing this, let us not deceive our hearts by trying to satisfy them with cheap imitations!”,
exclaimed the Pontiff: “Let us rather listen to them! Let us turn this thirst into a step stool, like children who stand on tiptoe, in order to peer through the window of encounter with God. We will then find ourselves before him, who is waiting for us, knocking gently on the window of our soul. It is truly beautiful, especially at a young age, to open wide your hearts, to allow him to enter, and to set out on this adventure with him towards eternity.” “You [Lord] were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you – the Pope said quoting Saint Augustine – You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone and you dispelled my blindness.” “These are beautiful words”, commented Pope Leo in Spanish, and they remind us of what Pope Francis said to young people during World Youth Day in Lisbon:
“We find ourselves facing great questions that have no simple or immediate answers, but challenge us to continue the journey, to rise above ourselves and to press beyond the here and now. We should not be alarmed, then, if we sense an inner thirst, a restless, unfulfilled longing for meaning and a future. We should not be lethargic, but alive!”
“There is a burning question in our hearts, a need for truth that we cannot ignore, which leads us to ask ourselves: what is true happiness? What is the true meaning of life?”, the Pope said, speaking in English: “What can free us from being trapped in meaninglessness, boredom and mediocrity?”.
“The fullness of our existence does not depend on what we store up or, as we heard in the Gospel, on what we possess.
Rather, fullness has to do with what we joyfully welcome and share”, the secret shared with the youths.
“Buying, hoarding and consuming are not enough”,
his guidance: “We need to lift our eyes, to look upwards, to the things that are above to realize that everything in the world has meaning only insofar as it serves to unite us to God and to our brothers and sisters in charity, helping us to grow in compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, forgivness, peace, all in imitation of Christ.”
“Aspire to great things, wherever you are. Do not settle for less.”
It’s the Pope’s instruction for young people: “Jesus is our hope”, repeated Leo XIV: “It is he, as Saint John Paul II said, “who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, to commit to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.” “Let us remain united to him, let us remain in his friendship, always – the Pope’s recommendation – cultivating it through prayer, adoration, Eucharistic Communion, frequent Confession, and generous charity, following the examples of Blessed Piergiorgio Frassati and Blessed Carlo Acutis who will soon be declared saints.”
